Do you often feel a prickling sensation or some numbness on your hands and feet? Or maybe it’s a more intense kind of pain, like a sharp, throbbing, or burning pain that suddenly assaults your extremities?
Either way, these sensations – tingling or prickling sensation (tusok-tusok), weakness (pangangalay), and numbness (pamamanhid) - can lead to muscle weakness and lack of coordination. You might even have a hard time doing simple things, such as buttoning your clothes, walking, or picking up an object.
In the long run, it might even lead to paralysis, especially once your motor nerves become affected.
If these symptoms sound familiar to you, then you might be experiencing peripheral neuropathy, or nerve damage. Although treatable, this condition can result in constant pain and discomfort.
Sounds awful? Don’t worry because by keeping your nerves healthy, you can help prevent this condition from happening to you.
Here are some tips to help you maintain healthy nerves and help keep nerve damage at bay:
Nerve Care Tip #1: Exercise your brain and body.
As if you need more reasons to exercise, here’s another one that can motivate you: exercising is essential to preventing nerve damage.
If you’re already experiencing telltale signs of peripheral neuropathy, engaging in physical and occupational therapy can help you get back on your feet.
Low-impact exercises like biking and swimming can also help you deal with neuropathy symptoms. Try calf stretches and leg lifts for your legs, and finger taps and finger rolls for your hands.
But don’t forget to exercise your brain as well. Doing a crossword puzzle, playing sudoku, and learning a new language at least 10 minutes a day all help make your mind sharper and more resilient against cognitive disorders.
Nerve Care Tip #2: Don’t forget to rest and relax.
Rest and sleep are vital to your mental health, as they help keep your nervous system in tip-top shape. Lack of sleep may affect the way you think, learn, react, and talk with others.
Sleep disturbances can also worsen your neuropathy symptoms. If you don’t get enough sleep, you’re more sensitive to pain due to a lower pain threshold. And if you couple physical pain with other conditions stemming from poor sleep like depression and appetite changes, then you’re bound to feel worse.
That’s why it’s crucial to have at least eight hours of sleep every night. It also helps to include meditation in your daily routine, as it helps calm and soothe your nerves. And when you do any intense workouts, rest your body for one or two days afterwards.
Nerve Care Tip #3: Engage in activities that enhance your peripheral nerves.
Did you know that the simple act of handwriting requires you to use the majority of your conscious motor and sensory pathways?
That’s why engaging in such activities at least 15 minutes a day serve as an exercise to your peripheral nerves, strengthening them. Writing on paper is better for your nerves than typing on a keyboard, as the former requires fine motor skills.
Don’t like writing? You can draw on paper instead, and it will still achieve the same thing.
Nerve Care Tip #4: Have a well-balanced diet.
Your nerves are protected by a layer of fat called myelin. Any damage to your myelin produces symptoms like nerve dysfunction, chronic pain, diminished vision, and muscle weakness.
Thus, it’s important to focus on including foods in your diet that strengthen your myelin so that your nerves will always be protected. Look for foods rich in healthy fats, vitamin D, and vitamin B like avocados, eggs, fish, beef, clams, legumes, salmon, green vegetables, liver, milk and dairy products.
Nerve Care Tip #5: Take supplements rich in Vitamin B.
Sometimes, diet isn’t enough. You also need to combine it with supplements to further strengthen your nerves.
And with vitamin B deficiency being one of the causes of peripheral neuropathy, vitamin B complex supplements should be included in your repertoire. These supplements can help reduce nerve pain and inflammation, help in the production of neurotransmitters, aid in the transmission of nerve impulses, and support the protection of your myelin sheath.
In choosing a supplement, look for one that contains the right amount of B-vitamins to help protect your nerves. Vitamin B-complex + Vitamin E (Neurogen-E)—with 300mg Vitamin B1,100mg Vitamin B6, 1000mcg Vitamin B12, and 100IU Vitamin E—contains the right amount of B-vitamins to help relieve the symptoms of nerve damage and help keep the nervous system healthy. Each caplet contains 5X more Vitamin B12 and 3X more Vitamin B1, plus added Vitamin E versus major players among OTC brands! It is recommended to be taken once daily.
Make sure to follow these tips to help stop peripheral neuropathy in its tracks and aid your nerve health.
If symptoms persist, consult your doctor.
ASC Reference No. U133P030520N
